Around the Farm: May 10, 2014

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday’s performances by Cleveland prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s game.

Joseph Colon (Akron, SP) - W (2-2), 6 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP - While some control issues (his K:BB ratio is still 24:18 after this effort) plagued him on the night, this was an incredible outing worthy of feature status here at ATF. Colon has pitched well this year but has failed to get the win in most of his good outings. He apparently figured he needed to do it himself if he wanted a victory and that's just what he did this night at the Corner of Main and State.

Kyle Crockett (Akron, CP) - S (6), 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K - Crockett continues to dominate the late innings in the Land of Quack as he picks up his sixth save and lowers his ERA to 0.63. Combine those numbers with a 0.70 WHIP and 17:3 K:BB ratio and it adds up to an impressive start to his season and excitement for Indians fans everywhere regarding his big league prospects.

Anthony Gallas (Carolina, LF) - 3-4, 2 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB - Gallas remains unstoppable as of late. He is now batting .410/.477/.615 in his last 10 games and is at .328/.371/.560 in 30 games total this season. His K:BB ratio has also improved in recent outings as he is 9:5 in his most recent 10 appearances as opposed to 19:3 in his first 20. If he keeps up this level of play, he could easily find himself in the Canal Park locker room very soon.

David Cooper (Columbus, DH) - 1-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB - Cooper only had one hit on the night, but it had a big impact as it was a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning that put the Clippers in the lead for good.

Tony Wolters (Akron, DH) - 2-3, 1 R, 1 BB - Wolters got on base three out of four times and scored the first run (the only one RubberDucks pitching would truly need) as he raises his last 10 games' slash line to .342/.366/.421 and nearly reached the .300 mark on the season (.299 season-long batting average).

Jordan Smith (Akron, RF) - 2-4 - Smith's second multi-hit night in his last three games (following his four-hit effort on Thursday). Hopefully he's beginning to turn it around.

Tyler Sturdevant (Akron, RP) - H (2), 2 IP, 1 H - The unsung hero of Akron's stellar pitching effort on the night. He faced the minimum as the only batter he allowed to get on base was forced out in a double play grounded into by the next batter.

Erik Gonzalez (Carolina, SS) - 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS - Gonzalez gets a much needed solid night after a nine-game stretch in which he only managed to go 6-for-37. Even with this weak stretch, he is batting .295/.336/.403 on the season. Hopefully he is beginning a return to that kind of form with this ballgame.

Jeremy Lucas (Carolina, C) - 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB 1 Sac Fly - Lucas has made a habit of getting his RBIs in bunches lately as he has 9 RBI in his last 10 games, all coming in multi-RBI games like this one.

Michael Peoples (Carolina, SP) - W (2-2), 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R (all earned), 3 BB, 8 K, 2 WP - Not a great outing, but one of the best of Peoples' rough early season and enough to get a win on a night when the Mudcats benefitted from an offensive explosion.

Louis Head (Carolina, RP) - 1 IP, perfect, 1 K - Head continues to dominate Carolina League hitting as he lowers his ERA to 0.71, and it's only that high because of a single run allowed to the Potomac Nationals back on April 14.

Clint Frazier (Lake County, CF) - 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K - Clint had by far the best offensive performance on a rough night at the plate for the Captains. He is now batting .304/.385/.457 with 5 RBI in his last 10 games. His K:BB ratio remains a concern though as he is still at 17:6 in those games.

Grant Fink (Lake County, 1B) - 0-4, 3 K, 1 E - Speaking of poor K:BB ratios, Fink's now stands at 53:20 after this hat trick. He also picked up his tenth fielding error of the year.

Robbie Aviles (Lake County, SP) - ND, 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (both earned), 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR allowed, 1 WP - While this was the roughest outing of the season for Robbie, it was still pretty solid. He wasn't the reason the Captains lost and did not factor into the decision.

Kerry Doane (Lake County, RP) - L (0-1), BS (1), 3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (3 earned), 2 BB (1 intentional, 1 WP - Doane, however, was a large part of the reason why the Captains lost. His second appearance in an official minor league contest went nowhere near as well as his 2014 season debut five days ago (3 scoreless innings allowing only 2 hits).

User Comments

Roger

May 11, 2014 - 5:50 PM EDT

tony or anyone in canal park how did adam miller look his numbers were nice but numbers dont tell the whole story. I know there is always a staff member of IBI in akron to bring the story. Did anyone have a juggs and what was the mix of pitches? please advise

Tony

May 11, 2014 - 9:37 AM EDT

I may be wrong, but I see it differently with Colon. I see him in Double-A all year except for maybe an end of year call to Columbus based on movement above and not him. He really needs a full season in Double-A.

Luigi Rodriguez is a guy I know a lot of national people still like, but to me that's more mailing in their prospect rankings than anything. I really lost some faith in him last year and his ranking suffered accordingly. He's just not a very good defender and while the bat is interesting, he has yet to live up to that speed-bat ability. Hopefully he is a late bloomer.

Walter

May 11, 2014 - 9:12 AM EDT

I believe later this season that Colon might one of first pitchers to be promoted to AAA..

It looks like there is development in the system this year, compared to previous years. A lot of opportunities for certain players to move up in the minor league system.

I think this upcoming draft can add more talent into the system which a small market team needs to succeed.

Willie

May 11, 2014 - 7:47 AM EDT

LRod was almost a forgotten man after missing a lot of time last yr. Good to see him simply performing.

Robbie Aviles with a quality start on the night, and still his worst night of the season - it's been a good season.

The Tribe really has a ton of depth, and some interesting SP prospects too. Guys like House and Colon quietly performing. Depth in the MIF, depth at C, depth in the BP. Now they need SP depth and OF depth and this system will be tight. Not superstars, but few potential AS (Bauer, Lindor)and few more that we can dream on (Frazier, F. Mejia).

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!